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How many people realize that over half of all US combat troops in the War of 1812 were KY troops, as were at least 64% of all Americans KIA, and perhaps as much as 75% of all US casualties were suffered by soldiers from just a single American state-KENTUCKY. It boggled my mind to learn of this, and I couldn't quite understand why these facts are not more prominent in US history books, even those on the War of 1812, which focus mostly on the pathetic showing of the militia and regulars of the Eastern states(Bladensburg, Burning of DC,etc), and the battles at sea. After Chicago and Detroit had fallen, and the US had suffered defeat after defeat, Gov.Isaac Shelby, hero of King's Mountain in the Revolution, led an Army of 3,500 KY Militia on a march of over 400 miles and did what the US Army has so ineptly failed to do. After covering 80 miles in 3 days to reach the battlefield, just the lead element, Richard M Johnson's Mounted KY Militia Regt, attacked and shattered the British lines in less than 20 minutes, killed Tecumseh and crushed all Indian resistance in less than an hour at a cost of only 17 KIA&30 WIA. Admitted combined British&Indian losses were 89 KIA&WIA, with over 600 British Regulars captured. This short fight should receive far more attention(&respect)than it gets, for almost the entire British Army in Upper Canada(ONT)had been killed or captured, and with Tecumseh's death and the shattering of his Confederacy, the Indian threat to OH,IN,&KY had been removed forever. I've spent years researching this conflict, have been writing about it for some time, and am about to publish, hopefully prior to the Bi-Centennial of the Battle of the Thames this Fall. I would love to see alot more posts, documentaries, and works of all kinds on this battle as well as the conflict as a whole, for the memory of the men who fought it(on all 3 sides!) deserve to be remembered, as I also believe the story of KY's unequalled role and sacrifice also MUST be taught to each generation of Americans who so thoughtlessly enjoy the freedoms those men died to preserve.